"You really need to remind yourself to 'lift American spirits? Unless 'lift American spirits' is a note to steal a carton of cigarettes," the late-night host joked Monday night, citing photographs of Palin's hand that revealed her talking points: "energy," "tax budget cuts" and "lift American spirits."

The day before, James Urbaniak, the voice of Dr. Venture on Cartoon Network's "The Venture Bros." tweeted: "In Palin's defense, her hand note 'Lift American Spirits' may not have been a Q&A prompt but merely a reminder to shoplift cigarettes."

American Spirit is a brand of cigarettte made in Santa Fe that touts itself as all-natural and free of additives. As a punchline, it was obscure enough to prompt Urbaniak to tweet followers asking for a transcript of the show.

"Can any of you East Coasters tweet me a transcript of the Daily Show's American Spirits joke? Must see how closely it parallels mine!"

Later, Urbaniak tweeted a link to a Gawker article describing the mess, followed by the statement: "For the record, my Daily Show friend assures me it was parallel thinking. Case closed!"

Still, hearing his joke told by such a successful comedian on national television is great publicity for an actor whose Twitter Bio reads "Voice of Dr. Venture on The Venture Brothers. Other acting services occasionally rendered." But "If Leno steals my "Lost"/Salinger joke from the other day," he tweets, "I'll know I'm really in trouble."